Turkey advanced to the knockout stages at Euro 2024 while the Czechs were eliminated. Check out the best facts, stats and Opta data with our Czech Republic vs Turkey stats page.
Turkey beat 10-man Czech Republic 2-1 to seal their place in the last 16 and send the Czechs home from Euro 2024 in an ill-tempered match that saw the most cards ever in a European Championship game.
A stoppage-time goal from Cenk Tosun gave Turkey their second victory in Germany, with Vincenzo Montella’s side advancing from Group F in second place to play Austria in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
Antonín Barák was dismissed after being shown two yellow cards in the opening 20 minutes, before Hakan Çalhanoglu gave Turkey the lead early in the second half.
Tomás Soucek equalised to set up a nervy finish in Hamburg, with news filtering through that Georgia were beating Portugal in the other Group F game.
Tosun emerged from the bench to lay the Czechs’ hopes to rest, though, confirming Ivan Hašek’s side’s elimination.
Exciting youngsters Arda Güler and Kenan Yildiz were back into the starting XI for Turkey after being named on the bench for their 3-0 loss to Portugal on Matchday 2, while Mojmír Chytil replaced the injured Patrik Schick up front for the Czechs.
It was the confident Güler who looked likeliest to make things happen early on, driving forward more than once in the opening minutes and he fizzed a shot wide from range in the 13th minute.
Czech Republic went close themselves when a long throw from Vladimír Coufal was flicked on by his West Ham teammate Soucek, but Robin Hranác’s resulting header at goal flew over.
However, the job for Hašek’s men got significantly harder in just the 20th minute when Barák was sent off by referee István Kovács, shown a second yellow card after a late challenge saw him stand on Salih Özcan’s foot. It followed an early booking for shirt-pulling, and Barák became only the second player sent off at Euro 2024, and the first since the opening game of the tournament.
After 19 minutes and 28 seconds, Barák received the earliest red card ever at the European Championship; the previous fastest was for France’s Eric Abidal after 23 minutes and 40 seconds at Euro 2008.
Despite having the extra man, Turkey struggled to impose themselves in the first half, not having a single shot on target. Samet Akaydin should have tested Czech goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek with a free header from a corner that went wide, while Çalhanoglu also hit a hopeful effort over the bar from range.
It was Czech Republic who had the best opportunity of the opening period, with David Jurásek unable to find a way past Mert Günok when in on goal as the Czechs countered.
Ferdi Kadioglu looked to be the likeliest source for Turkey, creating five of their eight chances in the first half.
Turkey hadn’t looked much like scoring in the first half, but it didn’t take long for them to break through in the second. After Yildiz had forced a good save from Stanek, the ball eventually worked its way to Çalhanoglu, who found the far corner with an excellent finish with his laces to put his country in front. It was Çalhanoglu’s 19th goal for Turkey, but his first at a major tournament.
Çalhanoglu has also now made the joint-most European Championship appearances of any Turkish outfield player (8), alongside Hakan Balta.
It went from bad to worse for the Czechs, with Stanek having to come off injured straight after, replaced by Matej Kovár.
However, despite it presumably feeling like the world was against them, Czech Republic managed to pull themselves level in the 66th minute.
Another long throw caused chaos in the Turkey box, with Günok dropping the ball under a challenge from substitute Tomás Chory, allowing Soucek to slam in the equaliser. A VAR check looked at the challenge from Chory but decided no foul had been committed on the Turkey goalkeeper.
Nerves were heightened for both teams as permutations started to swirl around everyone’s heads, with news that Georgia were leading Portugal 2-0 in the other game in Group F.
Czech Republic did have the ball in the net again, but the VAR couldn’t get involved this time as the referee blew for a foul before Jan Kuchta finished his chance.
Yildiz was a bright spark on the left for Turkey, with the Juventus youngster having a game-high six shots, including the one that eventually led to the opener. Only Schick (seven vs Georgia) has recorded more in a single game at Euro 2024. Montella will surely keep the faith in Yildiz and the equally impressive Güler in the next round.
Tempers flared and challenges were thrown in as both teams fought for their spot in the knockout stage, with 18 cards shown overall (16 yellows, 2 reds), the most in a single game in the tournament’s history.
Czech Republic threw everything forward in the closing moments, and somewhat inevitably, were ultimately punished. A counter-attack from Turkey in the fourth minute of stoppage time led to substitute Tosun cutting inside Coufal and beating Kovár with a fierce shot low to the goalkeeper’s left.
That was the end of Czech Republic’s hopes as Turkey advance, with further problems after the final whistle leading to even more cards, including a red for Chory after he clashed with Güler.
Turkey became the first team to receive eight yellow cards in a Euros match, eventually ending with 11 including subs.
If they can channel that passion in a positive way, Turkey can look to at least match their semi-final appearance in 2008 as they find themselves in the so-called ‘easier’ side of the draw.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Czech Republic vs Turkey stats from their Euro 2024 Group F clash at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Czech Republic vs Turkey: Post-Match Facts
- Czech Republic have won just one of their last seven UEFA European Championship matches (D2 L4) and have failed to win a match in a single edition of the tournament for just the second time, after Euro 2016.
- Turkey have won each of their last four games against Czech Republic, one more victory than across their prior 18 internationals combined (D3 L12). This latest win saw them qualify for the knockout stages of a major tournament (World Cup/Euros) for the fourth time in their last six attempts.
- In this match, Antonín Barák became the first Czech Republic player to be sent off at the European Championship since Radoslav Latal vs the Netherlands at Euro 2000. His dismissal, timed at 19:28, was also the earliest sending off in the tournament’s history.
- After appearing and scoring his first major tournament goal against Czech Republic on MD3, Hakan Çalhanoglu has now made the joint-most European Championship appearances of any Turkish outfield player (8), alongside Hakan Balta.
- Tomás Soucek has scored four goals across his last nine internationals for Czech Republic, and in scoring against Turkey became just the fourth member of his nation’s Euro 2024 squad to score a goal at a major tournament (alongside Patrik Schick, Lukás Provod and Tomás Holes).
- Ferdi Kadioglu created five chances for his teammates against Czech Republic; the joint-most in a European Championship match by a Turkish player, alongside Hamit Altintop vs Czech Republic and Ayhan Akman vs Germany (both at Euro 2008).
- Turkey have been shown 16 yellow cards at Euro 2024 so far, which is the most ever by a team in a single group stage at the European Championship. Indeed, there were 18 cards shown between Czech Republic and Turkey in this fixture (16 yellows, two reds); the most in a single game in the tournament’s history.
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